Letters: Government shutdown begins

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to the media about the impending government shut down in Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House Sept. 30, in Washington, D.C. GETTY IMAGES

IRVINE, Brent Lutes: When legislators fail to legislate, and government fails to govern, under what context do those institutions retain legitimacy?

A government derives its legitimacy from the governed and retains it so long as they empower it. We are in the midst of a government failure, nestled in the shadow of a potentially catastrophic fiscal crisis whose effects will be felt for years, if not decades. History will not blame Harry Reid, John Boehner or even Ted Cruz. Sadly, the blame will fall squarely on the shoulders of We, the People, we who enfranchise a failed government.

Elected officials are the employees of the people who they represent. They work for us. Not figuratively, but literally; we hire them, and we pay them. And we have been remiss in our duties as employers. The one and only duty of a legislator is to legislate, and ours have failed in the most negligent way imaginable. We, the people, need to wake up and do our job. Recall every member of Congress, regardless of political persuasion or tenure. Recall them all, and hold them accountable for the havoc wrought on our future. Let there be no context under which a failed government retains legitimacy.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Robert T. Carruth: As the government shuts down, let me ask, at the risk of being insensitive to the fears of millions, will we miss the “non-essential” parts of government not open for business as usual: IRS audits suspended; the Obama support army cut in half; the lack of enough regulators to write additional rules to follow? Perhaps we ought to try less government for awhile, even if it only happens from a temporary lack of funding, and see if we don't like it better. How much money can we save if we cut back for a while? The Post Office still works, Social Security checks will still go out, Veterans Affairs is still working, the armed forces are not being cut and even NASA is not shutting off the lights. Maybe we can get by with that.

Shutdown coverage

MISSION VIEJO, Jack Groendal: You can bet the farm that the mainstream media will find and report on a Cub Scout group that traveled 300 miles to see the museum, national park or federal building, only to be turned away. This will, of course, be so that they can blame it on mean Republicans.

Defunding the ACA

CORONA, Bill Seckler: The column by Peter Morici about Obamacare was perceptive and as nearly even-handed as anything I've seen lately [“Learning to live with Obamacare,” Opinion, Sept. 30].

In the first few paragraphs, he discusses the drawbacks to getting around the Affordable Care Act. In the second half, he talks about how European countries get more complete coverage at lower cost. Some of this is by limiting prices for services, drugs and devices. Finally, he tells where the savings can be found. We already have people who force doctors' fees down and weigh down patient and practitioner alike with paperwork. In California, they are limited to 20 percent of premiums for purposes of overhead and profits. Other states permit 30 percent. They are the insurance companies. Morici asks, aptly, whether the government could provide equal or better coverage with less overhead. That is the proverbial $64 question.

I spent nearly 35 years buying my medical insurance as a “solopreneur.” As I got older, and the number of competing sources of coverage dwindled, I saw my premiums become less affordable. I had to wonder how much of my premiums went to pay for those who use emergency rooms, where they cannot be refused for lack of insurance and rarely pay, and how much for lobbying for the companies' interest and against mine. Eventually, I became eligible for Medicare and can pay for any supplemental coverage.

Morici never mentioned how the new law affects self-employed people. The ones running individual or mom-and-pop businesses might be the biggest beneficiaries of Obamacare.

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PLACENTIA, Robert Belloli: The attempts to defund Obamacare by Sen. Ted Cruz and his Tea Party allies are not really motivated by concerns about debt, deficits, jobs, taxes or health care [“Affordable Care Act: A ruinous opportunity,” Opinion, Oct. 1].

Having engaged in ongoing fear-mongering, they have succeeded in generating fright and confusion to the extent that they see an opportunity to accomplish what they have been trying to do from the first days of the Obama administration. That goal, as stated in so many words by key Republican leaders, is to damage, discredit and undermine everything this president has sought to accomplish, especially what is described as his signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act. Having failed twice to keep Obama from the presidency and having failed to find direct blame for him for the controversies relating to Benghazi, the National Security Agency and the Internal Revenue Service, they are doing all they can to cause the ACA to become his failure.

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